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Pediatrician wants to supplement

My LO is 6 months old and weighs 18.10 lbs. At his well baby checkup today, the pediatrician was concerned that his weight gain seems to have hit a plateau. He has always been in 75th percentile for weight but he has dropped down to the 55th percentile according to the growth chart she showed me. She wants me to start supplementing with formula and return for a weight check in 6 weeks. I work full time and pump every 3 hours while at work, otherwise he is breastfed. I would really like to avoid giving him formula if it is unneccesary. He has plenty of wet/poopy diapers. I did read online that it is common for breastfed babies to even out in their weight gain around his age. Is supplementing truly neccessary? Thanks for any help!!

Re: Pediatrician wants to supplement

Good grief!! Seventy-fifth to 55? Horrors!!! They should take a look at my husband's old charts from when he was a kid - started out huge and then a huge plateau ended up below the 10th percentile. He was totally healthy - that was just his particular growth curve (also, those were the old bottlefeeding charts, and he was breastfed, might have played a role). Are there any other reasons to be concerned about him? I'm not a healthcare provider, so this isn't medical advice, but if the answer is "no", I personally would ignore the doctor or get a second opinion. If there is a weight gain problem, supplementing with formula is probably not the right way to address it anyway.

Re: Pediatrician wants to supplement

No other health problems, he is a healthy chunker. I was worried when the pediatrician mentioned it but after doing research, I am not as concerned. Maybe his pedi isn't aware of the growth charts for breastfed babies. Breastfeeding doesn't seem too common where we live.

Re: Pediatrician wants to supplement

Originally Posted by @llli*manitobamommy

Good grief!! Seventy-fifth to 55? Horrors!!!

Horrors, indeed! Oh, the humanity!

My pediatrician wouldn't flinch over a percentile drop like that. When my latest baby slipped from the 99-100th percentile to the 75-80th, she just turned the computer screen to show me, pointed at the curve, and said "Look, she's doing that thing that ALL my breastfed babies do. Leaning out. I think it happens because breastfed babies can't have a bottle hanging out of their mouths all day long."

Once a breastfed baby starts to get mobile- reaching, rolling, kicking, crawling, sitting up- weight gain tends to slow down quite a bit. All those calories that used to get packed on as fat go into action, instead!

Re: Pediatrician wants to supplement

I'm with MommaL. When was his last check up to this one? Has he started any activities between now and then? Rolling? Longer wake periods? Sitting? All take calories.

It drives me buggy when I see advice like this. Weight is only a single factor when assessing a baby's health. Did he have a height growth spurt? Did his head grow proportionately? Is he hitting all of his milestones? All of those take calories too. When viewing EVERYTHING, then you have a true picture of health.

Was the doctor using the WHO charts for breast fed babies? Print it out and bring it with you to your next appointment. It may help to ease the doctors concerns. That and the realization that your baby is fine!

Re: Pediatrician wants to supplement

I agree with the PPs. Ds dropped from the 90% to the 65% (once he started crawling). Our ped didn't even blink at it. Add a few extra nursing sessions in if you want to but there's no reason for formula.

Re: Pediatrician wants to supplement

I wouldn't worry about the drop in percentile. My son gained weight in increments, so he would plateau for a long time, then suddenly jump up, then plateau again. He was a super chubby baby, but by his first birthday was in the 40% for weight, and totally health.